Lufthansa First Class SFO-MUC, all alone in blissful privacy! (with many pics)
Apr 4, 2010, 10:46 am
#1
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Lufthansa First Class SFO-MUC, all alone in blissful privacy! (with many pics)
SFO-MUC
LH 459
April 2, 2010
9:00P-5:15P+1
Another 200,000 miles from my Amex MR account via AC Aeroplan and Mrs. SFO and I were back on our favorite SFO-Europe flight, LH's 9:00PM 346 to MUC. As luck would have it, we were the only two passengers in First tonight. What a treat! Needless to say, service was absolutely flawless and for all intents and purposes, it was a private charter. Yeah, yeah, the hard product is a little dated, but the soft product and LH cabin crew more than made up for it.
We were dropped off at SFO at 7:10P and proceeded to the HON/First counter where we were the only pax checking in. At security, the agent opened the First Class lane and we jumped ahead of 30 or so pax. Then we were off to the UA IFL which LH uses at SFO. Yes, Mrs. SFO now roll-eyes and accepts all my picture-taking...
The UA IFL was pretty much deserted as there was only one other pax in the lounge. The IFL is spacious and comfortable, especially when you have it to yourself. And pretty good close-up views of UA heavy metal.
But, there was no service staff visible anywhere for nearly the entire 45 minutes we were there. The food was pretty much leftovers from earlier in the day when UA flights were departing and some of it looked downright scary. We settled for nuts and veggies, which seemed the least dangerous.
And the limes and lemons looked like they might have been out for a couple of days...
OK, its the end of the day and the A-team cleaning crew hadn't been thru but the place just looked tired. The table between our first seats has crumbs and drink spill stains. And how many more weeks/months is it going to take until someone scrubs or paints the filth off the door to the bathrooms/showers.
On a positive note, the IFL dragon made a courtesy announcement that our LH flight would be boarding F in about 10 minutes. Perfect timing as we got to Gate 99 just as the GA opened the F/J boarding door.
After seeing our F BP, one of the FA's greeted us and escorted us to our seats, where the Purser and Senior FA also welcomed us and stayed to chat for a few minutes. Would we like a glass of Champagne? But of course, what would Moomba do? Tonight, the 2000 Laurent-Perrier Brut Millesime. Excellent.
Our private charter to MUC.
Our FA brought PJ's and amenity kits, and more champagne, of course! Although EF showed 1D occupied earlier in the day, no one showed as the Purser announced "boarding complete". An early push-back, short taxi and we were on our way. Shortly after take-off, more champagne and our menus.
Tonight's menu.
Warm scented (hint to AA and others) towel.
Our amuse-bouche tonight was a delicious artichoke dish with radish garnish.
Our smiling FA Laurent came down the aisle with the set up cart, announcing "show time". And indeed it was, an amazing two hour orgy of food and drink, that had my princess announcing "I'd go to Europe once a month if we can fly Lufthansa and this flight". Yikes! Would you settle for once a quarter??
The starter cart complete with the dry ice show...
Delicious Caviar and a glass of iced Smirnoff...
The starter tray.
Having reach the new 20 picture FT limit, continued in post #2.
LH 459
April 2, 2010
9:00P-5:15P+1
Another 200,000 miles from my Amex MR account via AC Aeroplan and Mrs. SFO and I were back on our favorite SFO-Europe flight, LH's 9:00PM 346 to MUC. As luck would have it, we were the only two passengers in First tonight. What a treat! Needless to say, service was absolutely flawless and for all intents and purposes, it was a private charter. Yeah, yeah, the hard product is a little dated, but the soft product and LH cabin crew more than made up for it.
We were dropped off at SFO at 7:10P and proceeded to the HON/First counter where we were the only pax checking in. At security, the agent opened the First Class lane and we jumped ahead of 30 or so pax. Then we were off to the UA IFL which LH uses at SFO. Yes, Mrs. SFO now roll-eyes and accepts all my picture-taking...
The UA IFL was pretty much deserted as there was only one other pax in the lounge. The IFL is spacious and comfortable, especially when you have it to yourself. And pretty good close-up views of UA heavy metal.
But, there was no service staff visible anywhere for nearly the entire 45 minutes we were there. The food was pretty much leftovers from earlier in the day when UA flights were departing and some of it looked downright scary. We settled for nuts and veggies, which seemed the least dangerous.
And the limes and lemons looked like they might have been out for a couple of days...
OK, its the end of the day and the A-team cleaning crew hadn't been thru but the place just looked tired. The table between our first seats has crumbs and drink spill stains. And how many more weeks/months is it going to take until someone scrubs or paints the filth off the door to the bathrooms/showers.
On a positive note, the IFL dragon made a courtesy announcement that our LH flight would be boarding F in about 10 minutes. Perfect timing as we got to Gate 99 just as the GA opened the F/J boarding door.
After seeing our F BP, one of the FA's greeted us and escorted us to our seats, where the Purser and Senior FA also welcomed us and stayed to chat for a few minutes. Would we like a glass of Champagne? But of course, what would Moomba do? Tonight, the 2000 Laurent-Perrier Brut Millesime. Excellent.
Our private charter to MUC.
Our FA brought PJ's and amenity kits, and more champagne, of course! Although EF showed 1D occupied earlier in the day, no one showed as the Purser announced "boarding complete". An early push-back, short taxi and we were on our way. Shortly after take-off, more champagne and our menus.
Tonight's menu.
Warm scented (hint to AA and others) towel.
Our amuse-bouche tonight was a delicious artichoke dish with radish garnish.
Our smiling FA Laurent came down the aisle with the set up cart, announcing "show time". And indeed it was, an amazing two hour orgy of food and drink, that had my princess announcing "I'd go to Europe once a month if we can fly Lufthansa and this flight". Yikes! Would you settle for once a quarter??
The starter cart complete with the dry ice show...
Delicious Caviar and a glass of iced Smirnoff...
The starter tray.
Having reach the new 20 picture FT limit, continued in post #2.
Last edited by SFO777; Apr 4, 2010 at 5:13 pm
Apr 4, 2010, 10:47 am
#2
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Original Poster
Join Date: Nov 2007
Location: Denver • DEN-APA
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Posts: 21,592
SFO-MUC
LH 459
April 2, 2010
Part 2...
After our iced vodka, we moved to a delicious 2007 Schloss Vollrads Spatlese trocken Reisling to accompany our starters.
Smoked Trout mousse, poached Leeks, Mustard Dressing. Fabulous.
Duck Confit, Sherry Vinaigrette. Excellent
Seared Watermelon, Goat Cheese Mousse, Banyuls Glaze, crushed Pistachio. A little weird for my palate.
Seasonal Fresh Green Salad with Balsamic Vinaigrette dressing.
Pork Tenderloin Medallions, Rice Cake, Spinach, Baby Carrots and Porcini Sauce... a little dry but nevertheless delicious and the 2006 Catena Alta Malbec was an excellent choice...
Cheese and Desert cart:
My cheese selections and a delicious Niepoort:
May as well use as many glasses as I can, since no one else is using them tonight.
So many to choose from...
My Rum Baba. Excellent.
And our goodnight bon-bons, and more Niepoort:
Whether it was the food, booze, late hour or combination, I crashed and woke up 5 hours later, apparently oblivious to turbulence that woke some of the resting FAs.
Although, we were still pretty stuffed, we had a little breakfast including made to order scrambled eggs.
After a beautiful landing, we arrived at the gate 20 minutes early.
Next up, the MUC First Class Lounge...
LH 459
April 2, 2010
Part 2...
After our iced vodka, we moved to a delicious 2007 Schloss Vollrads Spatlese trocken Reisling to accompany our starters.
Smoked Trout mousse, poached Leeks, Mustard Dressing. Fabulous.
Duck Confit, Sherry Vinaigrette. Excellent
Seared Watermelon, Goat Cheese Mousse, Banyuls Glaze, crushed Pistachio. A little weird for my palate.
Seasonal Fresh Green Salad with Balsamic Vinaigrette dressing.
Pork Tenderloin Medallions, Rice Cake, Spinach, Baby Carrots and Porcini Sauce... a little dry but nevertheless delicious and the 2006 Catena Alta Malbec was an excellent choice...
Cheese and Desert cart:
My cheese selections and a delicious Niepoort:
May as well use as many glasses as I can, since no one else is using them tonight.
So many to choose from...
My Rum Baba. Excellent.
And our goodnight bon-bons, and more Niepoort:
Whether it was the food, booze, late hour or combination, I crashed and woke up 5 hours later, apparently oblivious to turbulence that woke some of the resting FAs.
Although, we were still pretty stuffed, we had a little breakfast including made to order scrambled eggs.
After a beautiful landing, we arrived at the gate 20 minutes early.
Next up, the MUC First Class Lounge...
Last edited by SFO777; Apr 4, 2010 at 11:03 am
Apr 4, 2010, 1:00 pm
#4
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Join Date: Nov 2005
Location: Phoenix, AZ
Programs: AA Gold AAdvantage Elite, Rapids Reward
Posts: 38,311
Wow! What an excellent trip reports & pictures, too. I'm glad you are so enjoyable for flying in the F class suite. So I can't wait to get on the J class again for next weekend. I will try to write the TR when I get back home from Europe. I need to take couple days off the forums due to long jetlags out of ZRH-PHL-PHX. So I am looking forward to it. I know it will very extremely tired for flying long journey back home to Arizona.
Apr 4, 2010, 4:03 pm
#9
Join Date: Oct 2004
Location: SZG/MUC
Posts: 348
Nice photos! I took the exact same flight in J a few weeks ago and was also served the Smoked Trout Mousse as an Appetiser! :-D I found the Dressing to be a bit sour/tangy :-P
The Pork Tenderloin with Apricot Rice Cake was also served in J and yes, it was also dry ;-) The good white wines and Vodka made up for it though! :-D
The Pork Tenderloin with Apricot Rice Cake was also served in J and yes, it was also dry ;-) The good white wines and Vodka made up for it though! :-D
Apr 4, 2010, 4:56 pm
#11
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Join Date: Nov 2007
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Thanks for all of your kind comments.
To finish this segment...
A long 15 minute walk and we arrived at the FCL.
Our good fortune continued as the agent informed us that since our MUC-BCN flight would board from the tarmac position, we would "have to take a limo tonight". Ah, what a shame!
Across from the check-in desk is the FCL's in house Customs/Immigration. There was no line and we were quickly processed and welcomed to the lounge. The MUC FCL is light years ahead of the UA FCL. Service staff everywhere, bringing drinks and snacks, serving meals in dining area, and keeping the lounge spotless.
I headed for the shower with Mrs. SFO deciding to try to sleep off her hangover in the one the two sleeping rooms.
At 19h00, we headed downstairs to the Limo Dispatch center. A few minutes later, we were on our way in a Mercedes S-class Hybrid to our MUC-BCN flight.
What a great night and day. Even the crappy LH Y disguised as Business Class connector didn't bother me today, especially as I was able to book row 1. From SFO-Europe, it doesn't get much better than LH First and the amazing FCL/FCTs in FRA and MUC.
To finish this segment...
A long 15 minute walk and we arrived at the FCL.
Our good fortune continued as the agent informed us that since our MUC-BCN flight would board from the tarmac position, we would "have to take a limo tonight". Ah, what a shame!
Across from the check-in desk is the FCL's in house Customs/Immigration. There was no line and we were quickly processed and welcomed to the lounge. The MUC FCL is light years ahead of the UA FCL. Service staff everywhere, bringing drinks and snacks, serving meals in dining area, and keeping the lounge spotless.
I headed for the shower with Mrs. SFO deciding to try to sleep off her hangover in the one the two sleeping rooms.
At 19h00, we headed downstairs to the Limo Dispatch center. A few minutes later, we were on our way in a Mercedes S-class Hybrid to our MUC-BCN flight.
What a great night and day. Even the crappy LH Y disguised as Business Class connector didn't bother me today, especially as I was able to book row 1. From SFO-Europe, it doesn't get much better than LH First and the amazing FCL/FCTs in FRA and MUC.
Last edited by SFO777; Apr 4, 2010 at 5:02 pm
Apr 4, 2010, 7:10 pm
#15
Community Director Emerita
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Anywhere warm
Posts: 33,737
That was so much fun.
On your return, see if they have the First Class duck at the Munich F lounge. I've just seen one, and it is adorable. I understand they are out of stock this weekend, with more due in mid week.
On your return, see if they have the First Class duck at the Munich F lounge. I've just seen one, and it is adorable. I understand they are out of stock this weekend, with more due in mid week.